Bleed Just to Know You're Alive
by Shaz1
Summary: Chapter Twenty Five now Up! Please review!
1. Chapter One

Title: Bleed Just to Know You're Alive

Author: Sharron Ibbitson

Rating: PG-13 I'd say or a 15 in Britain

Disclaimer: None of the recognised characters belong to me and no infringement is intended, but if you feel like lending me Tom for a while I won't complain ;-)

Bleed Just to Know You're Alive

Tom Hanson shifted uncomfortably, he had been hunched down behind the dumpster for what felt like an eternity, yet still no backup arrived. He had to admit he was getting more than slightly nervous. He was badly outnumbered, and he only had one clip left for his only weapon, he would have sighed in frustration, but he didn't want to make even that amount of noise. He didn't know whether he was angrier at the youths that surrounded him or himself for blowing his carefully carved cover. It had all started a month ago, he had managed to hold his cover for that long and then at the last hurdle some stupid kid blew it for him.

_Flashback_

_Tom walked through the halls of the high school, swaggering in his devil may care way that he had perfected of late, sometimes it was hard for even him to remember that he wasn't actually a student anymore, still he guessed that that was a good thing, if he couldn't tell how could anybody else? He had been undercover in this particular establishment for the last three and a half weeks, flying solo which in itself was quite new to him as he was used to forming half of a duo with his partner Doug. Still he had a feeling that this job would be wrapped up and drawing to a close pretty soon. He had been drafted in because the principal was getting increasingly concerned about a seemingly enlarged amount of drugs being pushed through the school, and it seemed that one particular group will responsible, keen to avoid becoming a school with a reputation for drugs the principal had immediately informed the police, and hey presto suddenly Tom appeared. He sighed he was very tired already, it would be okay if he only had to work school hours and that was it, but lately it had been much more. He would do his time at school during the day, then there was the socialising with the other students, trying to infiltrate the group, then he had to report back to the Chapel to let Fuller know of his progress, and as if that  wasn't enough half the time he then got pulled into someone else's case with various stakeouts. He yawned at the thought, he really was exhausted._

_End Flashback_

Tom closed his eyes, he should have known better than to let his exhaustion make him sloppy, and that was exactly what had happened. He rubbed his hands over his face and blinked a number of times to clear his increasingly blurred vision. The air was filled with silence, but Tom knew better than to be fooled by it, silence was generally more deadly than if he could hear the loud rapport of gunfire. He carefully eased around to observe the windows behind him, he could see shadows lurking, yet no one was making a move. He knew that it would not stay that way for much longer; sooner or later they would get fed up of just lying in wait for him and go hunting instead. There were at least twenty of them, he had no idea ho he had even managed to escape this far at all, he just hoped his luck would hold a little while longer. Even as the silent prayer entered his mind, it went unanswered as a shadow formed across his face, and finally his entire form was shrouded in darkness as he was surrounded from all angles, leaving hi backed up against a wall with no where to run.

End Part One

Your feedback would be appreciated!


	2. Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Thank you to those that have e-mailed on list, or e-mailed me directly I am glad that this seems to have gone down ok. Please can you give me a review through this site or something because it is quite depressing seeing no reviews for a story! Please remember it only takes a second to click on the little grey box at the bottom of this page!

Chapter Two

Penhall cursed as his progress was halted yet again, he was desperately trying to get to his partner, Tom Hanson had called requesting backup as his cover had been blown. It was standard procedure for the undercover officer to be pulled from harms way and for the squad to bust the suspects and try to get them for whatever they could, just to salvage as much as possible from the operation. In this instance the Jump Street officers knew that their colleague was in danger, Tom had recently reported that the youths in question were not opposed to using violence when necessary, and Doug had an awful feeling that they might think just that on this occasion. The team had desperately been trying to get to their friend, yet it seemed as though the gods were firmly against them. They had so far come across a severe traffic accident, and a flood where a pipe had burst, but finally they were well on there way blues and twos rapidly going, Doug just hoped that they would get there in time.

Tom got to his feet his gun gripped tightly in both hands, he brandished it around in front of him, moving his aim from side to side, desperately trying to locate a gap in the surrounding group for him to get through, his luck once more let him down, but Tom Hanson was no quitter and he sure as hell was not to going to give up without a fight. He took a deep breath, in a last attempt to steady himself.

"Look I'm a cop guys, any second now my backup will be here, so just give it up now" he told them, and even to his own ears it sounded like a lame attempt at trying to talk the group of youths into giving up. His thoughts were obviously shared by the surrounding group, as the obvious leaders stepped forward and laughed as though the entire situation was a huge joke.

"My my Tommy, feeling nervous are we? Or should I call you Officer Hanson?" Brent Williams asked the undercover officer. Brent was a popular student, he was Captain of the football team, and currently dating one of the most popular girls in the school, and as Hanson had discovered, he was also a drugs pusher and a very nasty piece of work. "See Tommy, we know all about you and this little 'operation' of yours, and I gotta tell ya, ya almost had us, but bear in mind that I do say almost. See we ain't that dumb, you may have been able to carry it off but you trusted the wrong person my friend" Brent told the threatened officer with a smug grin written all over his face. Tom returned the gaze, puzzled by the young man's words, yet he had no time to think about their hidden meaning, as suddenly he was tackled hard to the ground by a flying huddle. The air was knocked out of him, as he landed hard on the rough ground beneath him, his head flying back to impact in the dirt. He blinked his eyes against his suddenly blurred vision, yet was given no time to react as he was surrounded by flaying feet and arms as vicious kicks and punches impacted with his defenceless form. He hunched over trying desperately to protect his vulnerable midsection in any way that he could, yet it was to no avail as blow after blow rained down on him. He winced and gasped as he felt his ribs give way to someone's foot, and recalled feeling his lip split what felt like an eternity ago, but in reality was more likely only a number of seconds. He writhed trying to evade the group in any way he could, yet firm grips on his arms and legs prevented his attempts in getting away. By the time the group started to relent, Tom was no longer capable of moving, as every limb ached from the seemingly never ending blows he had just received, his vision swam, and he was unable to even open his eyes without spears of agony coursing through his head. His ears were ringing, and no part of him seemed not to hurt, yet he was still trying to think of some way of getting out of his dangerous situation, he refrained from breathing a sigh of relief when the kicks finally ceased, yet he was not naïve enough to even think that that was the end.

 "Damn it damn it! Come on!" Doug hissed to himself as he sped through the streets, it was taking far too long for him to get to his partners aid, and since he was lead car he knew that the rest of his colleagues were faring no better.

"Easy Penhall, its only round the next corner he'll be fine" Ioki tried to calm the other man, yet even he knew his words were not very convincing as he too was very worried about Tom Hanson's safety.

"Yeah well, it's taken too damn long, he should never have been left out this long on his own. I swear if anything's happened to him……" Doug muttered in response, leaving his threat unfinished as he returned all of his concentration back to the road in front. Harry nodded, silently accepting his colleague's words, mainly because he couldn't disagree with them, Tom had been left out for too long, even when the higher ups had known that the operation was beginning to look a bit dangerous.

Tom shook his head trying to clear the fog that threatened to sink him into unconsciousness, but the movement only further aggravated his severe discomfort, and he groaned at the shooting pain in his head. The sound seemed to remind his attackers of his presence, as he found himself hauled to hi feet by his now bloodstained jacket, and he was violently propped against the wall.

"Well what the hell do we do with the pig now?" one of the group asked, seemingly afraid.

"Well we can't leave him here can we? We'll just run and report us to his pig buddies" another one reasoned. Then all of a sudden the air was filled with the sound of silence, and Hanson finally managed to breath again, at the thought of his buddies finally being able to rescue him, his relief was short-lived as he found himself once more ensconced in the firm rip of Brent, and dragged along behind him, as the rest of the group dispersed intent on making it as difficult as possible for the police to get to Tom before he was taken away from the scene almost unconscious.

"God damn it! He's not here!" Doug yelled at the top of his voice, they had searched every nook and cranny of the area, and Tom was no where to be found. He turned around just in time to see one of their prisoners smiling a knowing grin. "What? What do you know?" he asked menacing advancing on the young student. The younger man got to his feet and stood to his full height.

"What the hell would I have to tell you?" he asked in a cocksure manner.

"You had best tell me where Tom is, else I'll shoot that grin off of your face" Doug responded, cocking his weapon for good measure. The smile faltered for a second.

"Well the last place that I saw him was just over there" the man replied, nodding his head across the pathway. Doug nodded once, then trotted over, his stomach clenched in fear at what he found. The entire surface was covered in a film of blood, and Doug had an awful feeling that we knew who that blood had once sustained, his fear was confirmed when he turned around and saw the youth once more grinning back at him.

"Son of a bitch!" Doug yelled after him, and was rewarded with a manic laugh as he was pushed into the squad car.

End Chapter Two


	3. Chapter Three

Chapter Three

Many thanks for your feedback for the last couple of chapters, it is much appreciated. Please keep your reviews coming as they make this feel more worthwhile.

Chapter Three

Hanson groaned as he was finally dragged violently back from the darkness that had held him in its grip for what had felt like an eternity. He was pulled roughly to his feet, yet the World was a blur to him, the light hurting his eyes he immediately opted for squeezing them tightly shut and keeping them that way. Every part of his body was hurting and his discomfort was increasing with every second as he was practically dragged by the two youths that held him on either side. His breath caught in his throat as it became harder and harder for him to draw air past his damaged ribs.

"Brent, he ain't looking so good man, his lips are turning blue, I think we should stop" one of the boys reasoned with the obvious leader. Tom felt himself brought to an abrupt stop, and lowered to the ground none too gently.

"You're right he's having trouble breathing, lets get him to the hut quick, and then he can just lay down" Brent replied getting a closer look at the injured police officer. Tom gasped as he was once more hoisted to his feet. He closed his eyes tighter against the pain, and then noticed the harsh grating sound for the first time, he tried to work out what the noise was and where it was coming from. It was a moment later when he realised that the sound was coming from his desperate attempts to draw each breath, and it was getting harder and harder by the second.

"Good damn it sir he could be anywhere, and we're here sat on our butts waiting to find his body!" Penhall told Fuller angrily, his frustration, at the lack of action, becoming clear in his voice.

"Doug I understand you are worried, but where would you look? He could be anywhere! Look I want to find Tom safe and sound just as much as you do, but isn't going to do him any good to tearing around just anywhere when we could end up further away from him than we are now. We just need to sit tight and wait, Ioki and Hoffs are looking into likely places where they might head, but until we have somewhere concrete to look, we just have to wait" Fuller reasoned with the het up younger man before him. Fuller was more than aware of how hard it was for an officer when their partner ran into trouble, and he was damn sure that Hanson was possibly in more danger than they even realised.

"Sorry sir, I know you're worried too, but this is kinda my fault" Penhall continued, his gaze never leaving his boots.

"And why's that?"

"Well if I hadn't been off the day the assignment came in Tom wouldn't have been flying solo. Also it was that Toby kid that blew Tom's cover. I did the checks on him, and told Tom he was clean, he obviously wasn't. I screwed up sir, I screwed up and it could cost Tom his life" Penhall replied, then got to his feet and left the room before Fuller couldn't even attempt to reassure him.

"Man he is definitely getting worse, and he doesn't sound so hot either" Toby Mackintosh told Brent as he stood looking over their injured captive. The young student was really regretting breaking the young officer's cover, if he had known what the gang would do to him he never would have said anything. He had been bullied for his entire school years, never truly being accepted anywhere. Tom had confided in him, told what he was really doing at the school, had asked him to try to dig out some information for him, and Toby had agreed. He had enjoyed the trust the police had placed in him, and felt like he truly had a use for the first time in his life. Yet he had betrayed the young cop, betrayed him in the worst possible way. He had found a way to be accepted into the group, for the first time ever he had fit in with a gang of his own age, and at the time it hadn't mattered what it had cost other people, yet now as he saw the young man's pale face, and heard the harsh sound of each strangled breath, only now did he realise the true magnitude and repercussions of what he had done. It was because of him that the police officer now lay dying, drowning in his own blood, on a dirty garage floor. He gasped as Brent once more kicked the police officer's mid section.

"Hey Brent man, leave him. He's hurt enough, let's go" one of the other youths suggested as he forcefully pulled on Brent's leather jacket.

"Yeah man come on, let's just leave him" another one put, and all of a sudden the group had dispersed and Toby was left alone in the cold garage with the broken and battered cop, who's life was quickly fading from his wrecked body.

End Chapter Three

Please review!!!!!!


	4. Chapter Four

Chapter Four

Wow! Thank you for the reviews, I'll keep writing this as long as you keep reviewing it!!

Oh and Happy Birthday Johnny!!!! If you come to sunny Yorkshire I'll give you a big Birthday kiss!!!!

Chapter Four

"Damn this all to hell! It's been too long!" Penhall cursed, his temper frayed as still no word came of his partner's whereabouts.  Judy squeezed his shoulder, offering the only reassurance that she had to give.

"Doug, Tom'll be just fine. Hanson's a natural fighter he'll get through this just fine, and all this worrying will be for nothing.

"Yeah well, I just hope you're right" Penhall replied, before skulking off determined to cover every possible angle to get his best friend back safe and sound.

Tom groaned as he came awake once more, he carefully opened his eyes and pulled himself into as much of a sitting position as he could manage. He bit on his lip to prevent himself from yelling out as agony flared through him. He took a moment to get his breath back, even that slight exertion had tired him considerably. He leant back against the cold wall and just concentrated on drawing each tortured breath. When he had recovered enough so that the room no longer swam in his vision, when he finally opened his eyes gain he came face to face with Toby Mackintosh.

"What do you want?" Tom whispered, dismayed by the weakness in his voice.

"Man I am sorry. I didn't know they'd do this to you! I swear I never meant for this to happen"

"Then you shouldn't have sold me out" Tom responded, far too tired and in too much pain to pad his words. He winced as pain pulsed through him. "Do you know where we are?" he asked when the pain had faded to a continuous throb.

"Yeah, but it ain't gonna do us no good. We're locked in here man, I tried everything I could think of while you were out, but the whole place is sewn up. Do you think they'll be back?" the young man asked, his fear clearly evident in his voice, yet Tom was not in a forgiving mood, and wasn't intending on pulling any punches when it came to his treatment of the young man that had betrayed him.

"How the hell would I know?" tome retorted angrily, unable to keep his tone clam, however he soon regretted his reaction as he doubled over in pain. His torso screaming out at him, he wrapped his arms around his mid-section and collapsed down to the ground, tears streaming down his pale dirt streaked face.

"Christ Tom! I'm sorry man! How can I help?" Toby asked, his face a picture of pure fear and panic, yet Tom had no answer to give, his pain had already carried him once more off into the darkness. Toby's panic was only heightened when he saw the ever growing pool of blood surrounding the young police officer.

"Penhall are you coming or what?" Fuller yelled out to his subordinate. Doug got to his feet, grabbing his jacket and appearing besides his Captain in one swift movement.

"Well are we going Captain?" he asked almost as an afterthought, for he believed that he already had a good idea where they were going.

"We finally got a warrant for the arrest of Brent Williams, we're gonna pick the kid up. He'll talk" Adam told the younger man, hoping his voice carried more certainty than he felt.

"How can you be so sure? The other kid didn't utter a peep!" Penhall frustrated, he was all too aware that they stood no chance whatsoever of getting Hanson back unless one of the youths opened up and told them where they had taken the young cop and Penhall was also aware of how unlikely that was.

"Look Doug, I know you're worried, and I sure as hell am too! What's worse is that I know it ain't unjustified, chances are that Hanson is hurt, and probably fairly badly from the amount of blood we found, but standing here doing nothing ain't gonna get him back. I don't know about you, but I'd much rather try and get the kid to talk than stand around here moaning about how he ain't gonna tell us anything before we have even asked" Fuller told his colleague Penhall looked suitably abashed and shuffled his feet slightly.

"Sorry Captain, you're right let's go and pick him up!" Penhall agreed, newly invigorated and ready to kick some ass.

End Chapter Four

Okay no more updates for the next ten days or so as I am off on holiday, I am trying to post one chapter of each of the stories that I have got in the works before I go, so don't forget to check out my PotC stories, and my From Hell fic which will be updated on Friday!!

Please review!!!


	5. Chapter Five

Chapter Five

Thank you all very much for your kind reviews of my previous chapters, please keep them coming for the rest of this story as your words make me write faster! I am back from my holiday now, tanned and ready for lots of stories, so don't forget to check out my PotC stories that should be updated throughout this week!!

Chapter Five

Brent Williams paced nervously up and down; he knew that it was only a matter of time before the cops came for him, yet he still felt no remorse for his actions. Tom Hanson was a pig, he had pretended to be one of the gang, hell Brent himself had trusted him he had even confided in him, yet through the whole thing he had been a cop whose sole purpose was to bust them. Brent punched the wall, hard in anger, he had images of his supposed friend sat around with his cop buddies laughing at the high school kids, but who was laughing now huh?

Penhall removed his service weapon from the holster at his side; he double checked each round very carefully before spinning the barrel and with a deft flick of the wrist snapped the weapon shut once more. He kept the pistol in his hand as he looked over his shoulder at his superior officer, and nodded once. Fuller returned the acknowledgement, before stepping forward confidently and knocking hard on the door before him. Penhall had to bite his tongue to stop himself from speaking when the door swung open and an arrogant figure stood before him.

"Ah good evening officers, how can I be of assistance?" he asked smugly as Fuller displayed his badge, and in that moment Penhall was absolutely certain that the man before him had hurt his partner, and he wanted to kill him for it. "Which one of you is the delightful Tom's partner?" the confident youth asked. "It can't be you, you strike me as being too old to be a kiddy cop" he continued gesturing towards Fuller. Then he swung his attention around to Penhall. "That means it must be you, Doug right? I'm pretty sure he called out for you a few times. Yes that's right I distinctly remember your name escaping his lips around about the time that his fourth and fifth ribs snapped" Brent told the young police officer, and was only just saved from having his head removed from his body, by Fuller physically restraining the increasingly angry Penhall.

"You son of a bitch! Where is he? Where's my partner?" Doug asked clearly seething with anger. Brent laughed humourlessly and his eyes appeared to take on a hint of madness.

"You want him? If you really want to see your partner again while he is still breathing, then you'll have to come with me right now" he propositioned the concerned police officer. Penhall raised an eyebrow in question. "So what about it Dougy? Do you want to ride to the rescue of little Tommy? If so you and me right now, just us and we'll go and get him" Brent told him. Penhall's first thought was to simply pulverise the youth until he coughed up exactly where he had left Hanson, yet somehow common sense prevailed and he realised that this kid wouldn't tell him anything simply as a result of violence. This wasn't just some crazy kid that they were dealing with, this kid had a specific agenda his actions were cold and calculated and he knew exactly what he was doing. Brent Williams, was a maniac, pure and simple, yet Doug had to get to Tom, and that was the only way of doing so. The young cop sighed deeply before stepping forward, and before Fuller could step in he nodded his head firmly.

"Sure just you and me, we'll go and get Tommy" he agreed, and he ignored, yet did not miss, the look of concern and apprehension coming from his boss and his seemingly reckless act.

"I'll go and get my coat" the smug youth told them and swaggered off into the house. As soon as he was gone Fuller turned to Penhall, the expression on his face unreadable, yet Doug could guess what he was thinking, before he could make a sound Doug leapt in.

"Coach I know what you're going to say, but it's the only way to get Tom back. It's easy I go with Williams, you discreetly follow, and call in the cavalry if he makes a move, which I don't' doubt for a second that he will. That way we get Tom back safe and sound, and we get Williams red handed, and it's a completely clean bust with no way of him wriggling out of it" Penhall reasoned understanding his Captain's reasons, but not willing to back down on his partner's safety. Fuller sighed deeply he could understand why Penhall was so concerned about Tom's safety, but he also didn't like the idea of putting another officer at risk, and still not getting Tom back, but Penhall was right it was the only way. He sighed again.

"All right Penhall we'll play it your way, just be careful and get the two of you back safe" he agreed, squeezing the younger man's shoulder. Penhall smiled weakly at his Captain and friend, then turned back to the house in front of him, his nerves were making him jumpy, he just prayed that it would work out okay and hanson would be in one piece when he got to him.

End Chapter Five

Please review!!!!!


	6. Chapter Six

Chapter Six

Thank you for all of your reviews and e-mails that you have sent to me about this story. I really appreciate it! Please keep the reviews coming!

Chapter Six

Penhall paced up and down, the kid really was pushing his luck with the amount of time he had disappeared for. He sighed, and just as he was about to walk away thinking that Brent must have snuck out of the back door, the youth reappeared.

"Are you ready Dougy boy? Your boyfriend is waiting after all" the smug youngster told the already frustrated police officer. Penhall gestured with his hands, showing that he was more than ready to go and collect his partner. He winked once at Fuller, who nodded in encouragement.

"I'll drive?" Doug offered, trying to keep the edge out of his voice.

"Yeah sure, don't really matter does it" Brent agreed, surprising Penhall in his agreement. Doug nodded and the two men headed towards his borrowed police car. Fuller shook his head to himself.

"Doug I hope you know what you're doing" he muttered to himself, before heading to the car he had had dropped off minutes before, he slipped behind the wheel and settled into position two cars behind his junior officer.

Toby Mackintosh paced up and down, the young police officer in front of him had still not regained consciousness, and he had no idea how to help him. He knelt down next to Hanson and cast a careful glance over him in scrutiny. There was a gaping wound to the cop's temple that was still bleeding; his face itself was a mass of cuts and bruises. Toby shook his head in frustration.

"Man these guys worked you over good!" he commented, more to hear a sound than for any other purpose. He could tell that most of the police officer's injuries were hidden under what was left of his shirt for his breathing sounded really bad and his skin was slick with blood and sweat. Toby carefully reached across intent on taking hold of the older man's wrist to check for a pulse, yet he pulled away at the icy skin when he touched him. "Oh Jesus Christ man, I don't know how to help you!" Toby cried in desperation.

"Okay pull over here on the left" Brent instructed his police chauffeur, and Doug complied in silence. "Now get out of the car" he told him, and Doug did so sighing dramatically as he did so.

"Okay so we here?" he asked his tone sharp. Williams chuckled at him, as if he had just told a hilarious joke.

"Like hell are we here, do you really think I'm that stupid? We're going the rest of the way on foot, let's see if your Captain can keep tabs on us then huh?" he told the cop, and Penhall had little choice other than to follow him.

"Okay I want all units in this area, these are the guys that you are looking for, I want the area cordoned of, anywhere within five miles radius of this point" Fuller told the group of officers sat around him, as he pointed to a map. He hadn't been entirely surprised when Williams had given him the slip, it had been a move he had been half expecting from the minute the youth had made the proposition, now all he could concentrate on was damage limitation, and trying to get his now two missing officers back safe and sound.

"Sir, do we have any idea where he might have taken Hanson? I mean have we checked the hospitals and everything just in case this is some sick practical joke and they are leading us on a wild goose chase?" Hoffs asked her Captain.

"I checked out the hospitals myself Jude, and no one answering Tom's description has been admitted to any of the local clinics doctors or hospitals" Harry answered her. He could understand her frustration, it probably wouldn't have been so bad, but they knew for certain that Tom was injured, and from the amount of blood found on the scene he was injured quite badly.

"Right everybody clear?" Fuller asked, keen himself to get going as soon as possible. At their nods he continued. "Right let's move out" and the words had no sooner left his mouth that the troops had moved out on their way to rescue their friends.

"This is it?" Penhall asked, confused when Williams stopped outside an old lockup.

"Hey man don't knock it, kit serves it's purpose" Brent responded, obviously offended by the words. He opened the door and flicked a switch on the inside, and Penhall got an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. Yet he was left with no choice other than to follow when Brent merely stepped inside and kept walking. Finally they came to a stop outside what looked like an old storeroom, and Brent pulled another key from his wallet and flipped the lock. When the door was swung open, he gestured for Doug to precede him in, Penhall did so with only a minor hesitation. As soon as he stepped forward he couldn't help the gasp that escaped him, and suddenly there was only one thing on his mind and that was covering the small distance across the room to where his partner lay in a pool of his own blood, he was so intent on getting to Tom, that he didn't even notice as the door clicked shut and the key turned in the lock.

End Chapter Six

Please review!!!!


	7. Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

Thank you for your kind reviews! I have to admit I cheated a little with the last chapter, as I had already written it when I had posted chapter five, but refused to post it until I had received a review! Cruel I know, but hey I am churning these out pretty quick, not to mention all the PotC stories I have posted this week!!

Anyway please keep the reviews and comments coming!!!

Chapter Seven

  Penhall knelt by his partner's side, unconsciously holding his breath watching out for the rise and fall of Tom's chest. He released the breath when he saw and heard the desperate breaths being dragged down to tortured lungs.

"Tom can you hear me?" Doug asked frightened for his partner.

"He can't hear you man, he's been like that for ages" a young man told the police officer from across the room, and Penhall's hand automatically went for where his gun usually resided

"Who are you?" he asked the figure, yet when the younger man stepped out of the shadows Penhall recognised him with little difficulty. "Toby Macintosh isn't it? You little snitch! Well I hope you're proud of yourself, you caused this" Doug yelled at the youth, his concern for his partner fuelling his anger. Toby didn't reply, he simply retreated back into the corner of the room where he had sat huddled for the last few hours. Doug turned his attention back to Tom, and took a deep breath knowing that what he had to do would be painful for both of them. Firstly he looked at Tom's head wound, and winced in sympathy at the deep gash to his temple, yet he knew that the blood surrounding the wound didn't necessarily mean anything, as head wounds always bled a lot. Next he carefully pulled Hanson's tattered shirt away from his battered torso, and was shocked when the deeply unconscious Hanson flinched from his touch. He soon found out why. His partner's midsection was a mass of cuts and deep bruises, from his hips up to his chest, and Penhall was sure that Tom had a number of broken ribs as well as a possible punctured lung. He sighed deeply, there was very little he could do to help his partner with his current condition, he was just about to get to his feet and walk away when he noticed a patch of dark blood on his partner's torn jeans, he carefully peeled away the denim, and was shocked to find a gaping knife wound, he was more shocked to see that the blade had gone the whole of the way through his friend's thigh, and was still pumping out a lot of blood. Doug got to his feet and pulled his plaid shirt off over his head, carefully he pulled it through under his partner's prone form and tied it into a make shift tourniquet praying that it would stem the flow before his partner bled to death, and hoping that they would be found very soon, because if he stopped the flow of blood for too long his partner would lose his leg.

Judy Hoffs and Harry Ioki walked through the cold dark streets desperately searching for their colleagues, they had been at it for hours, yet so far there was nothing. Unsurprisingly nobody had seen or heard anything, and the two police officers were starting to give up hope.

"Man they could be anywhere!" Harry spoke just to hear his voice as the two walked along the street brandishing the most recent photos of Doug and Tom that they had.

"I know. I hope Tom's okay, I means there was an awful lot of blood at the school, and he obvious hasn't got any help" Judy replied, her fears clearly portrayed in her trembling voice. Harry looked at her, she had spoken the words that each of them had been avoiding for the last few hours, he smiled weakly at her and tenderly placed an arm around her shoulders.

"Look at this way Jude, Tom is tough, the guy could survive anything. Besides if Doug is with him Tom'll probably be begging the kidnappers to beat him to unconsciousness just to get away from Penhall" Harry told her, and she chuckled lightly in response, even though she knew that it wasn't really true. Tom and Doug were complete opposites, they were so different and from completely different backgrounds yet they loved each other, they were closer than most brothers and the best partnership that Judy had ever known. When one hurt the other cried, and when one was happy the other laughed that was the way that they worked. She cast her gaze down at the ground before Harry saw the tears forming in her eyes. She loved the two crazy guys as well, and she really didn't know what would happen if they lost them

Fuller sighed as he once more drew a dead end, he raised his radio to his face, about to radio all units and call off the search for the day when a yell from behind him distracted him. He headed over to where the police officer stood beckoning him across.

"What is it Hobbs?" he asked the man, his impatience clear in his voice.

"Sir we found this" the young cop told the experienced Captain as he handed him a small wallet. Fuller took it off him and carefully flipped it open, and sighed in relief when he pulled out a credit card with the name 'Tom Henderson' on it.

"Okay radio all units, get everybody in this area we're getting closer to our boy" he told the younger officer, who sprang immediately into action to follow orders. "Hold on Tom, we're coming to get you" Adam muttered, his own heart aching with worry for the young cop who was a member of his new family.

Doug sat next to his partner, his back braced against the wall, his long legs stretched out in front of him, he noted every hitch and every gasp in Tom's breathing, yet it took him a moment to notice the chocolate brown eyes starring back at him. As soon as he noticed that his partner was returning his gaze he sprung to his knees and moved closer to him.

"Tom? Can you hear me partner?" he asked softly, willing his partner to respond. Tom looked at him with confused, pain glazed eyes.

"Doug? Is that you?" he whispered, his voice weak from blood loss.

"Yeah buddy it's me. No kidding you can't stay out of trouble for five minutes can you?" he teased his best friend. Tom smiled weakly at his partner, and then a fit of coughs wracked his body, and he convulsed as the pain hit him. Doug placed a calming hand on his shoulder, and took his friend's hand with the other.

"Easy partner take it easy" he soothed the younger cop. His concern grew by the specks of blood around his partner's mouth caused by his coughing. "Hanson I need you to try to stay awake for me okay?" he prompted his friend, determined to do everything that he could to help him. Hanson nodded, but failed to open his eyes, and Penhall felt his own heart break when he saw a lone tear slip from his partner's closed eye down his too pale cheek.

Chapter Seven

Please review!!!!!!!!!


	8. Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

Wow! I am literally blown away by the response to this story! Never in a million years did I expect such a response from such a small fandom! Thank you all and please keep the reviews coming, this lowly writer needs your support!

Chapter Eight

The room descended to silence, as Doug's eyes never left his partner's fighting form, Hanson struggled for every breath, and Toby sat in his corner regarding the two police officers in fear.

"Tom, ya still with me? Doug prompted fearing that his partner had slipped silently away and left him. Tom's pain glazed eyes fluttered slowly open and he locked gazed with his partner.

"I'm still here man" he whispered, too weak to even manage a quiet talking voice. He licked his dry coarse lips, and winced as a new wave of pain wracked his battered body.

"I am so sorry man" Doug told his friend, his voice cracking with emotion as his guilt eased into his tone. Tom rolled his head slightly towards his friend, and his confusion was clear in his eyes.

"What for?" he asked when he managed to work up the energy to verbalise his question.

"It was me that told ya that he could be trusted" the larger man told his fallen partner, gesturing to the corner of the room where the youth sat huddled in the dark. "Maybe I should have dug around a little more, seen if I could of got some more information on him, then this might not have happened" Doug told him. Tom closed his eyes, his expression unreadable. He took as deep a breath as he could manage in the circumstances.

"Doug, man this isn't your fault. If you're to blame then I am too" he told him, putting as much force behind his words as he could, then his head fell back against his partner's rolled up jacket and he closed his eyes, exhausted just from the effort of speaking. Doug squeezed his blood stained hand in support, hoping to offer any comfort to his partner that he possibly could. Blinking back his own threatening tears Doug could do nothing more than watch as his partner lost his battle and fell into unconsciousness that Doug wasn't sure he would ever wake from.

Fuller had managed to group his teams together; it hadn't taken the officers very long to gather around near where Tom's wallet had been found. The minute they had heard Adam's voice over the radio they had all gone running, their concern for their friend and colleague giving their feet wings as they rushed to the only place they knew he had been since the school.

"Right guys listen up" Fuller commanded and the area seemed to fill with an eerie silence as everyone eagerly awaited news. "Tom's wallet has been found in this area, we know that he had it before he set off back to the school this evening because the credit card was used at the gas station just ten minutes before. Now we have conducted a brief canvas of the area whilst we waited for you guys to arrive, and we have managed to find a couple of witnesses who heard a scuffle here a few hours ago. They saw a group of youths heading that way" he told the group, gesturing to the area behind him. The officers surrounding him, muttered amongst themselves, but soon stopped when Fuller once more continued filling them in. "We are to do a full and complete search of the area, knock on every door, enter every garage, lockup and store room within a five mile radius, we don't stop until we find them, is that clear?" he asked them, and there was no surprise when everyone wholeheartedly agreed.

"I knew we'd be able to find them, and they'll be just fine" Judy told her partner, her voice excited at her relief of being so much nearer to safely finding her friend.

"Hey Jude, don't get carried away. We haven't found them yet, I mean yeah we're closer, but please don't get your hopes up. It could be hours or even days before we find them" Ioki tried to hold Judy back, not willing for her to be repeatedly hurt should they fail to find the missing police officers.

"Harry, don't be so negative. I know that it may still take a while to find Tom and Doug, I'm not stupid. I know that Tom is hurt, probably badly, I know that, but I also know that they are alive, if anyone could survive this sort of thing then it is Tom, he is so tough he could stand up to anything. He never gives, so I sure as hell ain't giving up on him" Hoffs told her partner, her voice rising slightly as her tirade continued. She spun on her heel and turned away as her eyes filled with tears, she would not cry, you cried when people died, you cried at funerals, you didn't cry when you were sure you were going to find someone you loved alive and well. Judy sobbed, the sound like a choke in the quiet of the night, Harry stepped forward and enveloped her in his strong embrace as she cried out her fear and frustration for her missing comrades. The problem was as much as she said it, and as much as she truly wanted to believe it, Judy wasn't so sure that they would get Tom and Doug back safe and sound.

End Chapter Eight

That's all for now, please keep the reviews coming! Dragonhunter200 thank you for your reviews of my stories, have a nice week away, and don't forget to check out the updates when you get back!!

If there are enough reviews you may get another update this week!!!


	9. Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

Thank you all so very much for all of your kind reviews, please keep them coming!!!!!!

Chapter Nine

Doug felt himself drifting off, he had gone nearly two and a half days without sleep, and he was struggling with the exhaustion and lack of food, yet he knew he had to stay awake for the sake of his partner. He shook his head to clear his cloudy mind, yet the fog soon dispersed at the sound of a groan coming from his partner. Doug's heart raced, partly relieved that the younger man was showing signs of life, and partly saddened to hear his partner is such obvious pain and distress.

Tom Hanson slowly made his way through the darkness that had held him in it's clutches for so long, he walked away from the comfort and the warmth, yet his body rebelled against him, flashes of pain coursing through his battered body his damaged lungs struggling to draw each shallow breath, his heart pounding unnaturally quickly as it desperately tried to pump the ever diminishing blood through his veins, his pulse weak and threading yet racing. Doug gasped as he felt the heat radiating from his now conscious partner.

"Tom?" he called gently, and Tom's chocolate brown eyes slowly fluttered open, the pain glazed orbs gazing at him. He groaned once more, unable to hold back, he squeezed his eyes tightly shut against the pain and his back arched in a weak attempt to rid himself of the pounding agony radiating from every part of him.

"Jesus Doug, help me!" he whispered, his voice desperate and his tone begging. Doug bit his lip, his heart breaking at the pain on his friend's face, the man was his best friend, his partner and his brother, and yet he knew he could do next to nothing to help him.

"Shh Tom, its okay, Fuller will be here soon, and it'll be okay. You'll be tucked up in a comfortable bed surrounded by pretty nurses soon enough" he tried to console the smaller man.

"It hurts!" Tom told him, squeezing his partner's hand so hard in reaction to his pain. A lone tear slid silently down Doug's face in response to his partner's words, he had never felt so helpless in all of his life. Without utterly a word he tenderly stroked the blood and sweat soaked dark hair away from Tom's face, offering what little comfort that he had to offer. He sat like that until his partner softly slipped back away from the World, back into the comforting arms of darkness, where death tempted him and beckoned towards him using what little strength Tom had left to resist. In truth Doug wasn't so sure that his friend would make it out of there, the slighter man had a number of serious injuries, he had lost a hell of a lot of blood and at least one of his wounds had obviously got infected, and there was absolutely nothing that Doug could do about it.

"This is ridiculous, it's like they've vanished into thin air!" Judy ranted, her frustration growing with every passing hour. Harry sighed from his position beside her.

"I know what ya mean Jude, Tom's been missing for days now, and Doug's been gone for what nearly a day and a half? I just don't get where they could be!" Harry agreed, both officers knew that with each passing hour the chances of finding Tom alive grew slimmer and slimmer. The two officers continued on their way through the darkened street,, eventually coming to a stop at what looked like a dead end. The two stopped and sighed, both frustrated that yet again they had found to find anything. It was just as they were both turning on their heels that Harry happened to look down at the floor, and noted a tiny pool of what looked like blood.

"Judy, wait a minute look at this" he called to his partner. He squatted down besides where the blood had pooled, and then reached for his radio. "Looks like at last we might be getting somewhere" he told the woman besides him, and then the two of them set about trying to figure out how to open the sturdy door before them.

"Sir, I think we may have something. There's a pool of blood outside what looks like some sort of lockup. We think it might have something to do with Tom and Doug" Harry spoke into the radio. Fuller closed his eyes in a moment's reflection, he wasn't sure if he felt relief at the thought of them finally finding their missing colleagues, or if his concern was heightened by the fact that his officer was obviously still bleeding, and quite badly by the sounds of it.

"Okay good work Harry, we're on our way" Fuller finally spoke into the radio, yet he got the distinct impression that it didn't matter at all that he had replied, fro his officers were more than likely well into the task of trying to rescue their fiends. With one final gaze around Fuller called a halt to the search and sent the teams to Harry and Judy, keen to offer all of the backup and support that he possibly could, for it was more than beyond time to rescue his boys.

End Chapter Nine

Please review!!!


	10. Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

Many thanks for all of your reviews again, and to those that have taken the time to check out my PotC fictions and review them, I truly appreciate it!

Please keep the reviews coming

Chapter Ten

Finally the door gave way with a huge groan and the two cops spilled through into the darkened hall. Harry pulled his torch from his pocket and shone it around, yet it offered little in the way of illumination.

"Which way?" he asked his partner who followed hesitantly behind. She looked around, as if she were searching for a way to answer his question.

"This way" she told him, and began walking away, the whole time looking around her for some clue as to her friends' whereabouts. Harry followed behind her, yet neither felt the need to speak as they travelled forward lost in their own thoughts and observations. Finally they cane to another locked door at the end of the hallway, though this one was going to be harder to break through. The two exchanged a glance then both turned to the side and ran up together desperately shouldering the door in an attempt to budge it open.

Fuller drove as he had never driven before, he had a feeling deep in the pit of his stomach that Harry and Judy were close to finding the missing officer, the problem was the feeling was more of a deep rooted worry than of relief. His sirens blazing and lights flashing he drove through the quiet dark street, determined to get to his kids before it was too late.

"Damn it! It isn't budging!" Harry cursed, his shoulder now aching from using it repeatedly to batter on the metal door before him. Judy kicked the door hard in reaction, for she was just as frustrated as her partner.

"They are in there Harry! I just know it!" she told the young officer beside her, tears welling in her eyes. She felt so helpless, every time they felt they were getting close to the missing pair it was as though some cruel twist of fate pulled the rug from under them and sent them crashing straight back down to the floor again.

"Come on Jude, Tom never gives up, and neither will we!" Harry encouraged his partner, he could tell she was hanging on by a thread at the moment, and he needed her calm and thinking straight else she would be no help to him or their two missing colleagues when they found them.

Finally Fuller pulled to a stop in Hoffs' and Harry's last known position, the drive across town had seemed to take an eternity yet in reality it was less than ten minutes. He leaped out of his car leaving the lights on and the keys in the ignition. He sprinted through the open doorway and down the corridor, not hesitating for a second. His heart hammered in his chest, and his breathing sounded ragged to his own ears from the exertion, yet he did not stop or slow down for a second, his heart and head were both telling him that he had to get to Hanson, and he had to get to him right now.

Hoffs and Ioki were tiring, they both had sweat dripping down their exhausted faces, yet they would not stop until both of their friends were safe and sound. Their hearts leaped when they felt the door finally begin to give way under their combined pressure, and they exchanged a weak smile. It was at that moment that they heard approaching footsteps; a person wearing heavy boots was running their way at Olympic speed. The partners nodded to each other, and both took a step back, drawing their weapons from their holsters. They ducked back on opposite sides of the corridor, and aimed their weapons at the quickly approaching figure.

"Freeze there ass hole!" Hoffs screamed, when she could make out the dark clothing, her finger tensed on the trigger, ready to fire in a heartbeat, she just managed to snap her arm away in time before she shot her boss. "Jesus Captain, don't do that to me!" she yelled at the sheepish looking Fuller, who after a second seemed to fold in on himself with his hands resting on his knees and his head bowed desperately drawing in the breath that he had denied himself in his haste to get to his boys.

"Haven't found them?" he asked through his pants.

"No, we're just trying to open the door" Harry replied.

"Well what are you waiting for then?" Fuller prompted, standing back to allow his officers room to slam into the door. After he had got his breath back enough, Fuller joined in on the mission and in no time the three cops had managed to get the door open. They breathed joint sigh of relief when the door swung open to reveal a none too worse for wear Doug Penhall, yet the grins soon faded from their faces when they noticed that said officer was currently in tears desperately pumping on his partner's chest trying to force some breath into the still lifeless form of Tom Hanson.

End Chapter Ten

Cruel I know, but I do love a cliffy!!!

Please review if you want to know what happens next!!!


	11. Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

Oh dear was Shaz a little cruel leaving the last chapter like that? And did she make it even worse by waiting longer and usual before offering an update? Sorry guys I didn't intend to wait this long before updating this week has been so hectic I haven't had time to draw breath! Anyway many thanks for all of your wonderful reviews it is very much appreciated, please keep them coming.

Chapter Eleven

"Well what are you waiting for then?" Fuller prompted, standing back to allow his officers room to slam into the door. After he had got his breath back enough, Fuller joined in on the mission and in no time the three cops had managed to get the door open. They breathed a joint sigh of relief when the door swung open to reveal a none too worse for wear Doug Penhall, yet the grins soon faded from their faces when they noticed that said officer was currently in tears desperately pumping on his partner's chest trying to force some breath into the still lifeless form of Tom Hanson.

"Jesus no!" Judy hissed through the lump in her throat as she caught sight of the scene before her. Harry moved as fast as his feet would carry him and slumped to his knees besides his two colleagues, joining in the battle to save his friend's life. Fuller turned a fearful gaze towards the female officer.

"Run back out and get the medics here now" he told her, and when she hesitated he physically grabbed her arms and swung her round. "Now Judy!" he hissed at her, and without a single pause she was on her way running as if the devil was on her tail. As soon as the young woman was gone Adam turned his attention to the fight going on behind him. He took a deep breath then moved forward and pushed Doug slightly out of the way and took over the compressions on the younger man's chest, leaving Harry to breathe air in the oxygen deprived lungs. The three cops worked and waited in silence until an eternity later when loud running footsteps could be heard approaching. Fuller and Ioki didn't even look up as the two paramedics entered the dank room carrying the equipment that would hopefully serve to save Hanson's life.

"How long's he been down?" the taller of the men asked.

"Twelve minutes" Doug replied, in his own mind he calculated that it had actually been twelve minutes and thirty nine seconds since his friend's heart had stopped bating and he had drawn his last breath, yet somehow he didn't think the medic would feel that information was strictly necessary. Penhall sat back and watched as the medics ushered the two concerned cops outs of the way, yet he barely noticed the actions of the others in the room, his attention was focused on one thing. His eyes never left the sight of his best friend's pale and still face, watching desperately for an intake of breath or a blink anything that would show that there was some life left in the battered form, yet none was forthcoming. He blinked his tears back forcefully, not wishing to have his view restricted by the blur of moisture, for if he couldn't see clearly he might miss a twitch or a blink. He flinched as the medics sent a shock of electricity through his partner's failing heart, and held his breath as he waited to see if his friend would draw one of his own.  Doug drew more and more frantic as his partner made no move and showed no hint of life at all. He jumped physically into the air when a hand clutched his shoulder, yet his eyes still didn't offer his boss any acknowledgement, he was blind to everything and everyone except for Tom.

Fuller could barely watch as the medics battled in vain to save the young life, he looked away and found his attention caught on another of his young officers. Doug Penhall sat hunched over against the wall, his focus firmly fixed on his partner. Adam sighed and rubbed his hand over his tired face, then moved the short distance to the other man; he clamped his hand down on Doug's broad shoulder, yet wasn't surprised when no reaction was forthcoming.

Harry physically could not remove his gaze from the face of his fellow officer. Hanson was so young, such a good cop. It was obviously that this was exactly what he had been destined to do, the son of a decorated police officer, barely more than a kid himself yet he was so brave and determined that he would do almost anything to get that bust and save a kid from their own demise. Harry sighed, no Tom was a fighter he had proved that time and time again, he sure as hell wasn't going to quit this time Harry wouldn't let him.

Judy had to bite back the sob that was threatening to choke her. Tom was dying, right there on the floor in front of her, one of her best friends was battling just to breath and there was absolutely nothing she could do to help him. She couldn't imagine jump street without him, he held the place together, sure he was serious a lot of the time and sometimes he was guilty of being a little too dedicated, but every member of the team had a link to him. Everyone loved him the same as he loved the rest of the team, she closed her eyes and couldn't prevent the moisture that slipped to run away down her cheeks. In her mind she repeated her own personal mantra praying to every god of every religion to spare her friend from the clutches of death that held him firmly in their grip.

Toby Mackintosh felt his own tears slide down his pale cheeks, he could see the depth of emotions on the faces of all of the cops in the room, and he knew that it was his fault. Sure he hadn't physically punched the young cop, but he may as well of in the greater scheme of things he had caused this damage and nothing he could ever do would make up for it. He rested his head against his knees, unable to see the pain that reflected so clearly on the faces around the room.

Tom Hanson was floating, the pain from earlier drifting away as images of loves and hates appeared before his eyes. He sighed in relief it was the first time in days that he hadn't felt fear and pain, and it was good. He opened his eyes, and gasped as he saw the scene below him, Doug sat in a corner silent tears streaming down his face, Judy stood over a figure on the floor, sobbing to herself as though in deep mourning. Tom looked on in confusion Fuller stood besides his partner, as if comforting him and Harry was also in the room to one side muttering to himself as if in prayer. Tom shook his head, he had no idea of what was going on, it was then that the figure spread out on the floor once more caught his attention, and as he looked closer he gasped as he recognised the still beaten form of himself. As soon as the realisation dawned a sharp pain shot through his chest and he twitched in response as the burning sensation spread through him, just as the pain was getting too much he drifted once more back into the darkness.

Doug was staring so intently at his partner that it only took him a split second to notice the change come over the slighter man. He smiled lightly, for Doug noticed what everyone else had failed to spot. He had noticed his partner take a short stuttering breath on his own.

End Chapter Eleven

That's all for now, but it was a fairly long offering!! Please review!!!!


	12. Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

Thank you for all of your kind reviews, because I got them all so quickly I decided to give the next chapter early!! So please keep the reviews coming!!!

Chapter Twelve

The moment that Tom's heart started beating and he began to draw struggling breaths for himself, the paramedics stepped back, firmly placed an oxygen mask over his face, and set off for the hospital. In the blink of an eye he was loaded up in an ambulance and on his way to life saving help with the sirens blazing. Doug watched the blur of the ambulance as it whizzed by and before he knew it he was ushered into the back of a squad car amongst his closest colleagues and following behind the ambulance, actually managing to beat it to the hospital by a few minutes. The now out of breath police officers dashed into the building at break neck speed, each desperate to hear of their fallen friend. Huffing and puffing Fuller finally managed to obtain the directions to the trauma, and once more the group was off on the hunt. Finally they reached their destination only to be told teat their colleague had been rushed through to emergency surgery. The groups slumped down on the traditional plastic seats along the corridor.

"Someone had better call his mom" Doug told the group, speaking for the first time since Tom had stopped breathing. Fuller sighed deeply.

"You're right I'll go and find a pay phone" he told them, and tiredly got to his feet to deliver the bad news to the widow. The remaining officers sighed in unison, relieved that their friend was in competent hands, but still scarred by the memory of his ashen face when his heart had stopped beating.

"I sure as hell know what I'd like to do to those kids if I got my hands on them" Judy seethed, she knew that the image of the paramedic desperately pudding on Tom's chest would haunt her sleep for a long time to come, so god alone knew how Hanson was going to cope. The rest of the group murmured noises of agreement. All of a sudden Doug shot to his feet and pounded his fist hand against the wall.

"Dammit what is taken so damn long?" he asked his frustration clear. The others had no energy or intention to try to calm him, sometimes it was better to just leave him be, for none of them could disagree.

Fuller reappeared almost thirty minutes later, the older man looked emotional and physically drained.

"Did you reach her?" Harry asked the Captain, and Adam nodded rubbing one hand tiredly over his face.

"Yeah I got her, she's worried sick and crying her heart out. I tried to reassure her, but since I have no idea of exactly what is going on it's kinda hard to do. I sent a squad car over to get her and bring her here, so she shouldn't be too long. I'm just hoping that by the time she gets here we have some good news for her" he told them, yet once more his prayers went unanswered, for less than twenty minutes after his call the woman arrived looking exhausted and more frightened than any person deserved to look, and still there was no news on her gravely ill son. She sat down besides the young police officers and the groups waited in silence. Each second ticking over as though a lifetime had passed, each struggling to sit still, wishing that their was something that they could physically do, anything at all, yet they knew there was nothing. All that they could do for the moment was sit, and wait, and pray.

End chapter Twelve

Slightly shorter, but hey it was posted quickly, more coming later this week! Please review!!!!


	13. Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

Thank you all for your kind reviews! I really appreciate your comments, please keep them coming! Once again I am very sorry for the delay in posting and I will try to be better from now on!!!

Chapter Thirteen

Penhall sat with Mrs Hanson's sleeping form cradled in his arms, Tom had been in surgery for a number of hours, yet still there was no news. Judy and Ioki were asleep on the uncomfortable seats, and Fuller had had to go to check out the scene some time ago, yet he continually phoned the hospital to check for any news. Doug sat and simply observed his friends, he was very surprised that they were able to sleep after what he had seen that night, he doubted he would ever sleep again, for the image of his friend's lifeless form would surely haunt his dreams for the rest of his life. He sighed and tiredly rubbed his hands over his stubbled face, as he did so the woman laid on him stirred and finally opened her eyes. She sat up and stretched, and then all of a sudden seemed to remember the events of that day and night ad his expression fell.

"Hey" Doug greeted her quietly.

"Still nothing?" she asked her tone hopeful.

"Nada" he replied his voice croaky from lack of use.

"Tell me Doug, is Tom a good cop?" the scared woman asked the young police officer beside her.

"Yes mame, he's the best I've known" he replied, and he meant. Tom was many things sure he could be hot headed but he was loyal and fair and the best damn partner he had ever known. Mrs Hanson seemed lost in thought for a moment as if digesting his words.

"His father would have been proud" she commented after a moment.

"Yeah he would have, any father would have been proud to have a kid like Tom" Doug told her, his tone level as he spoke seriously to the distraught woman.

"Tell me Douglas, is he really bad? I mean you were there, you saw him, you held him from what Adam told me, and you saw him brought in, so you'd know. How bad is it?" she asked him, and Doug felt a lump raise in his throat at her question, he knew that he could offer false reassurances, yet somehow that would only make it harder for her in the long run should the worse happen. He sighed.

"He was pretty bad" he replied, unable to meet her eyes as he spoke. She nodded, and suddenly found that she didn't wish to make any attempts at further conversation.

The moment the doctor stepped out of the OR he was lynched by three police officers and an exhausted mother. A million questions were aimed at him at once. He held up his hands to placate the group.

"Please if you give me a moment I will explain the procedure, and then if you have any questions you may ask them one at a time" he told them and they all nodded. The tired man led the group back to the waiting chairs. "As you are all aware when Tom arrived he was in critical condition. We had to perform emergency surgery to remove his spleen as I am afraid it was too badly damaged for us to save. One of his ribs had snapped and punctured his lung so we have had to insert a drain to help with his breathing. He also has bruised kidneys that we will have to monitor for some time. One bit of luck he has had was that his leg wound went straight through it did nick his femoral artery and cause a huge amount of blood loss, but there should be no permanent damage to the limb. He are however concerned about the head injury, there seems to be a large amount of swelling to his brain, this may be a temporary condition and for the moment the only course of action is to keep a close watch on him" the doctor told the stunned group before him. Mrs Hanson stifled a sob at the list of her son's injuries.

"Is he awake?" Doug asked the doctor keen to see his friend alive and well. The doctor heaved a sigh and Doug could tell that he was not going to like his answer.

"I am afraid that Officer Hanson slipped into a coma as a result of his injuries" he told the group, and at those words the tension of the room could have been cut with a knfe.

End Chapter Thirteen.

Please review


	14. Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen

Thank you all for your kind reviews!! They make me keep writing!! Please keep them coming!

Chapter Fourteen

The atmosphere in the hospital waiting room could easily be cut with a knife, the whole group were worried, concerned and terrified, each battling with their own emotions as their friend laid in a hospital bed fighting for his life, locked in a battle that none of them could help him with. Doug didn't know whether to sob or go and beat the crap out of something- his emotions were confusing him.

"Can we see him?" he asked the doctor when he could finally find his voice to speak.

"I'm afraid only family until he is out of critical condition" the doctor replied, and anger flashed through Doug's dark gaze.

"Then that's just fine cos I'm his brother, and that there that's his sister" Doug responded, pointing at Judy. Judy and Harry stepped forward as usual more than willing to back up their colleague.

"Yeah I'm his cousin Harry" Ioki continued, and the three officers looked at the doctor with unflinching gazes. He looked away nervously.

"Okay you can go and see him, but only two at a time" he told them and then showed Mrs Hanson and Doug to the young officer's room. Penhall couldn't help the gasp that escaped him when he caught sight of his best friend.

"Jesus" he cursed softly. Hanson lay on the hospital bed hooked up to a multitude of machines each that helped to sustain his life. Hi head was tightly bandaged up, yet his skin visible beneath it was as pale as the bandage. His arm was splinted in a temporary cast, and the other had tubes running from it to the IV, his abdomen was strapped up tightly to protect the badly damaged torso, and his leg was raised beneath the covers.  Mrs Hanson also looked over her son and had to stifle a sob that threatened to escape in reaction to his condition. Somehow this was worse than when her husband had died, at least she knew that he hadn't suffered at all, with the magnitude of his injured Tom had to be in agony.

The two visitors took a seat at each side of the bed and each sat in silence.

"Ya know they say that he can hear ya if you speak to him" Doug spoke, more to hear his own voice than for anything else. Mrs Hanson nodded in response, yet made no move to speak. Doug leant forward and carefully took his fiend's hand in his own.

"Hey there partner, how are you doing?" he asked softly, not expecting an answer but speaking the meaningless words regardless. "You know if you needed a vacation this badly you should just have asked Fuller, he may be a slave driver but man this is drastic" he told his friend, and the pulled his chair closer, and looked directly at Tom's face. "Ya know Tom of everybody I know you deserve this less than anybody. You became a cop for all of the right reasons you actually want to do good, and make your family proud, for you it wasn't just for the badge or to look cool, it means something to you. I gotta you, man, I respect you for that. From the first week I met you I could tell you were gonna be a great cop and an even better partner. You really have got to hurry up and break out of this joint, I love ya man. There are ya happy? I said it! With a witness as well! I love ya and I dunno what I'll do if you don't move your tail and get it back to work now partner" Doug told him, tears streaming down his face, every word that he said was true, he really did love Hanson he was the best partner and friend that a man could ever hope for, yet he was also unassuming and modest with it.

"Do you think he's going to be okay?" Judy asked her partner as the two sat alone eagerly awaiting their turn to visit with their fallen friend and colleague. Harry sighed deeply, he had known she would ask him this.

"I honestly don't know Jude. He's young, and strong and fit, but I'm not a doctor. Tom's a fighter, and I hope to God he'll pull through, but I just don't know" Harry replied honestly, the problem was that every time Judy's doubts were verbalised his own leapt to the forefront of his mind and he felt even worse and even more concerned for his friend. Just sighed in response to his answer.

"Yeah Harry you're right, Tom ain't a quitter, he'll be just fine" she spoke more to assure herself than him, yet both crossed their fingers and prayed to every god of every religion that she was right.

End Chapter Fourteen

Please review guys!!!


	15. Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen

Hi guys sorry for the delay in posting, but I have had great news, I just passed my Police fitness test!! (It's good news for me anyway!)!! Anyway I will try and update at least once more this week depending on how many reviews I get (There's nothing like a bit of blackmail huh?)

Chapter Fifteen

Penhall yawned so hard he thought he had broken his jaw for a second, he was sat in the usual hard backed plastic hospital chairs that the hospitals provided just to make sure that if the worry about your friend or relative didn't keep you awake then the lack of comfort sure as hell would. He rubbed his hands tiredly over his face, and allowed his mind to drift.

_Flashback_

_"Penhall" Doug barked into his phone, he looked at his watch in frustration it was almost seven and he was supposed to be taking Dorothy to dinner at eight, he got to his feet intent on getting rid of whoever was on the phone as soon as possible._

_"Doug, it's me. Listen I need some info on one of these kids. Guy by the name of Toby Mackintosh, I think we may be able to use him, but I want you to run his name see if anything pops up" the voice of Tom Hanson requested quietly._

_"Sure I'll do it right away, where are you?" Doug asked his partner, it was strange to not be working with Tom, yet Fuller had been insistent that it was a one man op, and Doug was simply back up._

_"I'm at Darcy's diner with the group, I told them I had to call my Mom" Tom informed his partner. Doug nodded to himself._

_"Okay I've requested the background check, it should be back in the morning, so I'll let you know if it flags anything up. You take care all right?" Doug told his partner, and Tom agreed then abruptly signed off. Doug placed down the phone and was out of the office in the blink of an eye._

_End Flashback_

Doug desperately blinked back the tears that threatened to fall, if only he hadn't been in such a rush to get to his date he would have run through the information properly and chances were that Tom wouldn't be fighting for his life in hospital right now. He released the sobs silently as the guilt threatened to consume him.

Ioki stood back and watched the rise and fall of his friend's chest- just to prove that the young man was actually alive- so he looked anything but. Tom's usually tanned skin had a deathly hue to it in place of its usual radiant glow. The young officer was surrounded by machines that monitored and sustained his life signs, too many machines to actually be able tell what each one was for. Harry felt his eyes well up with tears at the sight before him, and he could tell that Judy was faring no better.

"He looks so lifeless" she whispered, voicing his thoughts perfectly, yet this time Harry had no words of consolation for there were none to give.

Fuller paced up and down, he could not have been more anxious if it was his own son that lay fighting a battle that only he could fight in.

"Did they give any indication of when he might wake up?" he asked the young officer sat before him. Doug shook his head.

"No sir, just whenever his body is able to cope with the trauma he has been put through, could be a day could be a year" Penhall replied, his tone calm and cool, yet his heart raced at his own words. He just couldn't imagine Jump Street without Tom around, his fellow McQuaid brother made the job worth it when he was close to giving up, and he couldn't imagine going to work every day without Tom being there. Fuller sighed, his own frustration rising to the surface.

"Why Tom?" he asked, and for that Doug had no answer.

The World was surrounded in mist, and shadows lurked around. Voices spoke in familiar tones yet he was unable to respond, he tried to reach out yet his limbs felt heavy and unwilling to move. He was floating images flickering around his mind yet unable to pin them down and play them out. Tom tried to draw a breath yet something was lodged in his throat making it impossible, he flinched automatically as the oxygen refused to be drawn into his lungs, and at the movement his whole body sent flares of fire through him, as the pain pulsed through rocking him to the core he once more succumbed to the darkness.

End Chapter Fifteen

Please Review!!!!


	16. Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen

Thank you all once again for the fantastic response to the last chapter. Chances are there won't be another for possibly up to two weeks as I am moving home and (sob sob) won't have an internet connection for a couple of weeks!! I dunno what on Earth I am going to do with my time!! I am going to try to convince my boyfriend to post a couple of updates for me, but it would still be great if when I do get back on line that I have lots of reviews waiting for me!! I am going to attempt to post one chapter for each of my ongoing stories before Friday, so I will be trying my best!

Chapter Sixteen

Doug sighed deeply, he couldn't help it- he was bored out of his mind. Judy and Harry had just finished their visit with Tom, and had decided to head home to get some sleep before they had to be at Jump Street the next day. Doug just couldn't bring himself to leave, he already knew that he had let his partner down, he'd never forgive himself if something happened to Tom whilst he was snoring away in bed, no he was determined not to leave the hospital until Tom was awake and out of danger.

Adam Fuller sat to one side of his subordinate's hospital bed, he had only just managed to convince Mrs Hanson to take a short break from the dreary hospital surroundings, and as such found himself alone with the battling officer for the first time. He found himself mesmerised as he watched the slow rise and fall of the younger man's chest providing the only evidence that the other man was indeed alive. He was at a loss over what to do, he knew that you were supposed to talk to coma patients, yet he had already tried that and felt incredibly uncomfortable with the concept, so he had immediately lapsed back into silence. He sighed to himself and quietly shuffled his chair forward to sit closer to the poorly man, and awkwardly encompassed Tom's pale hand between his own and squeezed in what he hoped was a reassuring gesture.

"Hey there Tom. It's Fuller" he spoke brashly, in an attempt to make his tone sound normal. "Listen Tom I need your report on my desk for Friday, so you had better hurry up and wake up. Being the nice boss that I am willing to let you have a couple of days off, but that's it" he told his young officer, and he wasn't shocked, although he was slightly disappointed, when no response was forthcoming.

Judy flopped bonelessly down onto her sofa, already she felt guilty over leaving Tom, she honestly didn't know what she would do if something happened to Tom whilst she was gone. She could hardly believe the events of the last few days and how much life could change within such a short space of time. She sat back and just starred at the far wall, silent tears running down her cheeks.

Harry hit the punch bag so hard that the wall shook with the force, and his wrist ached from the force it had just expelled. He grabbed hold of the still swinging bag and cursed a loud. He didn't know what or who he was most angry at. Doug- for fouling up the intelligence, the youths that had actually given out the beating, himself for taking so long to find his friend, or confusingly, Tom himself for getting hurt. He sighed to himself as his heart rate slowly settled down to a normal pace, he was so worried for his friend and so angry at the entire damn World.

Mrs Hanson took a sip from the scolding hot cup of coffee, yet she barely noticed the burn. This whole week was continually reminding her of her husband's death. To lose the love of your life to a gun brandishing thug was bad enough but to then have your son beaten to within an inch of his life by a bunch of kids was incomprehensible. She sighed once more, she could hardly bare to see her son's struggle for life whilst she helplessly looked on, for paramount in her mind was what her life would be without him in it.

The voice cut through the fog, the familiarity penetrating the darkness, yet he couldn't quite place the tone. There was a weight on his chest that made drawing breath difficult and the air struggled to get past some obstruction in his throat, he tried to gasp yet no oxygen came through. The World was dark and he was so very cold and alone.

Fuller sighed once more running out of things to say already.

"Seriously Tom, we're all really worried about you here. Please just let us have a good night's sleep , all you have to do is wake up and let us know that you are okay" Fuller pleaded with the younger man. He closed his eyes, deep in thought, and when he opened them and looked up a set of chocolate brown ones were meeting his gaze holding a confused and scared expression, yet to Adam it was the greatest thing he could have seen.

End Chapter Sixteen

Please Review!!


	17. Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Seventeen

Hey guys! At long last I am back! Sincere apologies for the delay in posting but I have been back in the dark ages with no internet connection for the last few weeks! Many thanks for all of your wonderful reviews for this story, I can't quite believe the response to this story! Please keep them coming, and I will try and update again this week if I can!

Chapter Seventeen

"Tom? Tom can you hear me?" he spoke quietly, yet urgently to the young man lying beside him, he got to his feet and pressed on the cal button to summon some help for his officer. Tom's eyes flittered around the World, as if beginning to panic, his hand weakly flying up to his mouth and desperately trying to dispel the tube that was lodged in his air way. Fuller took hold of the younger man's hand.

"Tom you need to leave that where it is, just calm down and you'll be just fine" the older man soothed the officer, and was relieved when the doctor came dashing into the room. Fuller released his hold on Hanson's hand and stepped aside to allow the professionals to gain access to their patient. He stood to the side watching his soft brown eyes still full of concern for his subordinate. His attention was reluctantly dragged away by a nurse's hand on his arm, and he was quickly ushered out of the room.

"Coach? What's going on?" Penhall asked his fear perfectly clear in his voice. Fuller softly placed his hand on the younger man's arm and lead him back to the row of chairs against eth nearby wall.

"Doug, it's okay. Tom woke up" Fuller told him, and Doug breathed a huge sigh of relief.

"Was he okay, I mean did he seem okay?" Doug asked his mind going into overload in his relief.

"He seemed very disorientated but I can't say for sure because I had to leave" Fuller responded. "Now why don't you wait here for any news while I go and look for his mother?" Adam propositioned and Doug nodded readily, keen to see his partner for him self as soon as possible. Adam nodded once more and then headed off towards the canteen to try to find Mrs Hanson.

Doug paced nervously for about the hundredth hour as he waited to hear news on his best friend. He had no idea what was going on inside the small hospital room, for he had heard nothing since Fuller had left, and he was getting more and more worried by the second.

Adam found Mrs Hanson precisely where he thought he would, stood staring into space clutching the same cup of coffee that she had been drinking for the last hour- once hot and scolding now stone cold.

"What's happened?" She questioned frantically when she caught sight of the look on Fuller's face.

"It's okay! Tom's woken up. The doctor's are in with him now, so you should be able to see him soon" he told her, and her shoulders slumped in relief. She got to her feet, all of the worry and concern taking their toll and leaving her exhausted. She followed Fuller silently out the canteen and the two walked side by side through the sterile corridors to see their boy.

The two arrived back where Doug was waiting just in time, as the tired looking doctor stepped out of Tom's room at the precise moment that they arrived back. The three looked at the doctor and he sighed as if dreading what was to come. He guided the diminished group back across to the seats and sat beside them.

"Well? How's Tommy? Can we see him?" Doug asked in one breath his desperation to see his friend clearly evident in his sparkling eyes. The doctor took a deep breath.

"I am afraid that Officer Hanson is not able to receive any visitors at the moment" The doctor responded, carefully choosing his words.

"Why not? What's wrong?" Mrs Hanson asked, tears welling in her eyes as she prepared herself for some more bad news.

"Well I am afraid that there have been some unexpected complications with Tom's condition" the doctor told them and found three very serious gazes locked upon his own.

That's all for now folks! Sorry to leave you on a cliff-hanger, but the more reviews that I get the quicker I update!!!! So please review!


	18. Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Eighteen

Hi guys, was that a mean cliff-hanger again last time? Terribly sorry about that! Okay I have now passed my final stage fitness test for the police and although I could barely walk or bend my arms the following day I was obviously chuffed to bits!! So there you go! Anyway thank you all for your wonderful reviews it means a lot! I am a bit gutted actually because somehow my longest PotC story, a friend in need, got deleted from my PC so I have had to recover all of the posted chappies from , but the new chapter that I hadn't posted is gone for good!

Anyway please review!!

Chapter Eighteen

Tom shifted uncomfortably in his bed, his whole body a mass of agony, the doctor had spoken to him, yet Tom's mind was lost in a swirl of fog, and no words were audible. All he knew was that not one part of him didn't throb in agony. He was so tired yet his mind was running around with a million different emotions, the last thing that he clearly remembered was Doug holding him in his arms and talking softly to him, then his world had faded to black and that was it until he had woken up to find Fuller sat besides him.

He attempted to draw a deep breath and gagged once more as the harsh plastic tube that led to the ventilator prevented the oxygen from entering his lungs in the natural way. Silently Tom Hanson closed his eyes and blocked out the World, as a silent tear ran down his cheek.

Judy sighed once more and sat up in bed, it was hopeless her mind would not shut down enough to allow sleep to come, all she could think about was the dire state that Tom had been in when she had left the hospital. She had always had a soft spot for Tom Hanson, it wasn't just his sultry good looks, or those deep chocolate eyes that could communicate a thousand thoughts, feelings and emotions without him even needing to speak. It was more the way that he always seemed to know what you were feeling, he was there for her when she needed a friendly shoulder to rest on, there to take an ear bashing when she just needed someone to vent to and there to have a laugh and a joke with whenever they were just hanging out. She brushed away the moisture on her cheeks- Tom was a fighter she would not give up on him. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and got to her feet, pulling on the clothes that she had left scattered over the floor. Somehow she knew that Tm needed her, and she' be damned if she wasn't there for him.

Harry threw the remote across the room in disgust, he couldn't focus on anything on the television anyway, his mind was far away with his colleague. He was angry too, for this should never have happened, he didn't know where the communication had fallen down, but he sure as hell was going to find out. It wouldn't have been so bad if he had been allowed to go out on the streets and seek out his friend's attackers, but they had been ordered to take a step back on the case, the whole department too close to the victim to be allowed anywhere near. He slammed his fist angrily down on the arm of his sofa, he hated thinking of Tom as a victim, for if there was one thing that the young officer wasn't, it was a victim for no matter what was thrown at him the young just seemed to bounce back. Harry sighed once more, then sprung to his feet, grabbed his leather jacket and was out of the door in the blink of an eye.

"Well what is it?" Doug asked when he could take the awkward silence no more. The doctor shifted his gaze between the three concerned people before him, and took a deep breath before speaking.

"As you are aware Tom sustained some extremely serious injuries during his attack, each of which was made worse by the delay in getting assistance. Tom has a very serious wound to his leg that has caused some nerve damage, at the moment Tom has restricted movement in that leg that goes beyond the external severity of the wound" the doctor told them, his tone grave. It took a moment for his words to sink in.

"Are you saying that Tom might lose the use of his leg?" Fuller questioned his tone carrying a large weight of fear.

"Yes Captain Fuller, that is exactly what I am saying" the doctor replied softly.

End Chapter Eighteen

Please review!!


	19. Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen

Thank you guys for all of your reviews again! I am hoping to get this fic finished in the next week or so – as I already have plans for a sequel! Please keep the reviews coming. I am truly sorry for the extremely long delay in posting, I have had the craziest few weeks imaginable- including getting accepted into the police, and just celebrating my birthday! Anyway I am off to cop school next week so I will try and get as much of this posted as possible before I go and obviously update as much as possible whilst I am away. Please stick with me, and please keep your reviews coming!

Chapter Nineteen

"Have you mentioned this to Tom?" Doug asked softly, almost incapable of uttering the words.

"Officer Hanson is aware to a degree of the severity of his injuries- however he is rather spaced out at the moment due to the amount of medication he is on to reduce the pain and fight off possible infections." The doctor told the stunned group.

"Can we see him now?" Mrs Hanson asked, tears already welling in her dark emotion filled eyes. The doctor simply nodded and then left the group alone to their thoughts. They sat in silence, none of them able to put their thoughts into words. Tom had only ever wanted to be a cop, it was what he lived for, it was in his blood. None of them knew what he would do if that was taken away from him.

"Man what are we gonna do?" Doug asked quietly and unsurprisingly nobody had an answer for him.

Tom lay with his eyes open, starring blindly up at the ceiling, he couldn't understand what had happened, everything was hazy- he was almost glad to be alone with his thoughts, not having to worry about what anyone was saying to him. His solitude meant that he no longer had to mask anything, he could allow his mind to drift, and allow himself to begin to unravel his confused thoughts without having someone add even more to the pile. Tom gagged as he once more forgot about the obstruction of the tube down his throat; he closed his eyes and allowed his mind to drift. When had he gotten so damn careless? A few months ago he would never have gotten in the situation in the first place, and now look here he had ended up, all due to his own stupidity. If only he hadn't rushed Doug in the background checks, or waited for the more detailed results, but no his impatience to get on with things had won him over and he ended up laid out in hospital more of his body bruised than not. He weakly banged his fist against the soft mattress beneath his aching body, damn it if only he could go back and do it over again.

Judy and Harry arrived back at the hospital almost simultaneously, each of them out of breath as if some inner force had been urging them to get back to their friend as if the devil himself were on their tails. They exchanged a glance as they almost collided in the corridor, and without muttering the word the two friends and colleagues hurried to their gravely injured friend- keen to offer any support that they possibly could. Yet any words they could have offered were erased from their minds as they caught sight of the depth of emotion before them. Doug stood to one side, his entire presence drained in exhaustion and his face a deathly grey, Fuller sat slumped in a chair his head cradled in his hands, and Mrs Hanson stood starring blindly straight ahead, tear tracks down her cheeks. Judy could not bring herself to ask what had happened, for she knew that hearing the words verbalised would somehow mean that it was true, luckily Ioki was there, and he was the sort that would rather know.

"What's happening guys?" he asked, his tone sounding desperate even to his own ears. Doug turned as if noticing the other officer's presence for the first time. Quietly the larger man filled them in on the developments, his tone monotonous and void of any emotion. Harry sighed and allowed his weight to collapse into the nearby chair, unable to believe what was happening to his friend. Silently Doug pushed himself away and walked into the hospital room that housed his best friend.

"Tom? Are you awake?" he asked softly, and Hanson lethargically rolled his head towards his partner, glazed chocolate brown eyes struggling to focus on the blurred shape before him.

"Doug?" Hanson mouthed, unable to speak around the ventilator tube still assisting his breathing.

"Hey buddy" Doug acknowledged, stepping forward and capturing the smaller man's hand in his own. "I am so sorry" the officer whispered and slowly knelt down beside the bed and rested his head against his friend's hand, and allowed the tears of grief to fall, unbeknown to him, the man in the bed mirrored his action, and the two men fell asleep in that position, each with their own pain clearly written in the tear tracks on their faces.

End Chapter Nineteen

Please review!!!


	20. Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty

Hi guys, thank you for all of your kind reviews they really mean a lot, and I am so sorry that I have not updated for so long, it really isn't good enough. I have tried to a few times but I am having problems with , anyway I am hoping to get quite a few more chapters of this posted by Christmas so hopefully it will be finished soon. Please stick with me and please keep reviewing!!

Chapter Twenty

Tom lay awake, keeping his eyes closed. His drug induced sleep made him feel muggy and strange even when he woke up. H had regained consciousness almost a week ago and the foul ventilator tube had finally been removed two days ago. He was still tire all of the time, he had no appetite and he was yet to even sit up let alone get out of bed, but what was worse than all of that was the fact that his best friend hadn't been to see him since the night he had fallen asleep with his head rested against Tom, and he had no idea why. His throat ached terribly where the intrusive tube had scratched his already damaged throat, and his head pounded mercilessly, every time he closed his eyes and allowed his mind to drift away from his control all that flashed up at him was the leering face of Brent Williams, a very tough kid when his friends were around him, despite the boys lack of age Tom still felt a shudder course through his battered body at the very thought of the young man, which was precisely why more often than not he was given drugs to assist his sleep since the nightmares kept him and most of the hospital awake whenever natural sleep managed to claim him. Slowly he opened his tired, glassy eyes and when he had blinked a few times to clear his still blurry vision he saw he mum sat beside him, smiling tenderly at her only son.

"Hi Mom" he greeted, his voice tired and crackling with lack of use. She leant forward at his words and gently caressed his forehead, tucking away the loose strands of hair that laid there.

"Hi sweetie how are you doing?" she asked him softly, aware that loud noises made his still sensitive head pound even more. He swallowed once before answering.

"I'm good mom honest" he told her quietly, he took a good look at the woman before him before continuing. "You look tired though, why don't you go and get some rest, I'll be fine" he told her honestly she was looking exhausted, and to be honest he would quite like some time to himself. She looked doubtful at him, as if she didn't want to leave him. "Honestly mom, I will be fine, I don't want to have to worry about you making yourself sick where you aren't eating or sleeping" he continued, well aware that it was a low blow, but still more than willing to use it. She sighed deeply, before getting to her feet.

"Okay, okay you win, I will go and leave you, but I will be back this evening" she told him, before leaning over and planting a soft kiss on his forehead. Tom watched her leave, and couldn't help the small sigh of relief that escaped him as the door closed behind her.

"Has he been to see him yet?" Adam asked Judy the concern evident in his voice. His team of undercover officers was his family and at the moment he had one laid up in hospital seriously injured, and the rest of the team worried sick for him, and then there was Doug Penhall. Doug and Tom had been best friend and work partners ever since he had known them; in fact they had been almost inseparable. Doug had been hit hard by Tom's attack, a situation that wasn't helped by the fact that Doug felt at least partly responsible for the situation that lead up to Hanson being badly beaten. Adam sighed he knew for a fact that Doug hadn't been to see his partner for several days and he also knew that Doug hadn't left the precinct he had been so intent on trying to correct his own perceived wrong doing by almost killing himself in order to try to catch the missing Williams that he wouldn't allow himself any reprieve and apparently also felt that he couldn't face his partner until he had caught the wrong doer.

"No Sir, he hasn't been to see him, and I know for a fact that Tom has noticed something odd" Hoffs replied, she was all too aware of the situation as well, but she also knew how badly Hanson was handling everything and how desperately he was trying to hide his fear and his continuous flashbacks, and she couldn't help but feel angry at Doug for not being there when Tom needed him the most. She understood that he felt guilty and felt that the only way to make it up to his friend was to apprehend his attackers, but she also knew that he was making matters worse by distancing himself from his partner. Tom was gradually pushing everyone away and if they didn't do something to resolve the situation soon Hanson could be lost to them for forever.

"How is Hanson doing?" Fuller asked after a moment, he knew what the doctor's were reporting, but had been unable to go to see him for himself in the last few days as the demands of the job caught up with him.

"Not too god sir" Judy replied, and Fuller's eyebrows raised in question, she took a breath before continuing. "It's like he's pushing everybody away, he will lay there for hours with his eyes closed pretending to be asleep until you leave just so that he doesn't have to talk to you, and when he does speak to you he won't tell you anything about how he feels or what happened, it's like if he doesn't talk about it it'll go away and we all know that that isn't going to happen" Hoffs told her Captain, her concern for her friend very clear in her voice.

"I can see this tearing the team apart, but at the moment it is Hanson that I am more concerned about" Fuller responded, and Hoffs could tell that he meant it. "You deal with Penhall I am going to see Tom" he continued, and before the words had even left his mouth he was to his feet and shrugging his jacket on.

"Yes sir" Hoffs replied to the door that was swinging shut behind him.

End Chapter Twenty.

Please review!!!!


	21. Chapter Twenty One

Chapter Twenty One

Hi guys! Thank you all for your tremendous reviews, I am honestly sorry for the long delay between posts but real life is catching up with me! Please review! Many thanks to my newest reviewer- looks like your begging gave me a kick up the backside to actually post a chapter! Please keep the reviews coming!

Chapter Twenty One

Adam took a deep breath before entering the darkened hospital room, he had to admit that he really wasn't looking forward to the impending conversation, but he knew that if Hanson didn't talk soon then he never would. He sighed to himself and punched the door open quietly; he was saddened by the image of his subordinate, who lay deathly still and as white as snow. The younger man had clearly lost large amount of weight- especially given the amount of time, and it was weight that he could ill afford to lose. Hanson had his eyes closed and his breathing was steady- but not quite steady enough to fool his boss.

"Tom, I know that you are awake, so how about you open those big brown eyes of yours and talk to me huh?" Adam spoke forcefully, hoping that his tone would help in some way to get his friend to snap out of his current state. He was not disappointed, for a sigh from the quiet police officer on the bed made it perfectly clear that his point had been made and clearly understood. "Ah so you are awake then huh? What's with the sleeping policeman act?" Fuller asked, deliberately keeping his tone light in an attempt to prevent Tom from distancing himself any further away from his colleagues. Tom sighed as deeply as his battered chest would allow him to, before replying.

"Just tired is all, I was resting my eyes" Tom replied quietly, and with that one sentence he proved why he made a terrible liar. Adam sighed, his displeasure at the response clearly shown, yet he chose to leave that issue for the time being.

"I just wanted to see how you were doing, check to see if you needed anything," Adam told his friend.

"Na, I'm good thanks" Tom replied automatically. Adam sighed, he was hoping that his presence might get Tom to be at least a little bit more forthcoming in his responses; he should have known that Hanson was far too stubborn for that.

"Yeah you look just dandy to me as well" Adam retorted, and felt a little bit of satisfaction when Tom's eyes shot open to reveal shocked chocolate orbs. "When are you gonna start with a bit of honesty?" Adam asked, losing patience with the situation. Tom sighed as deeply as his battered torso would allow.

"All right maybe not fantastic, but better than a few days ago" Tom told his boss quietly, his tone strained to Adam's sensitive hearing.

"That's better, try admitting that more often and you might find you feel a lot better a lot sooner" Adam told his subordinate, trying to prevent his tone from sounding patronising.

"Yeah" Tom replied, before he turned his head away so that he was staring up at the ceiling directly above him.

"Have you seen much of Penhall?" Adam asked, keeping his tone light, and trying any way he can to spark some reaction out of his friend. His ploy worked as Tom immediately turned his head towards his boss.

"Not much no, I guess he's been busy at work or something?" Tom replied, his tone slightly hopeful, as he himself was unable to hide the hurt he felt at his friend's recent behaviour. Adam sighed to himself, he had known that Tom wouldn't have missed Doug's strange activities of the last few days.

"To be honest Tom I don't know what has gone off with him. He has been acting strange ever since you woke up. I think that he blames himself for what has happened to you" Adam told his subordinate- choosing his words carefully. He was trying to make things clear, without upsetting the fragile young man. Tom sighed deeply, and then winced as the action hurt his fragile mid section yet again.

"I thought it might be something like that, and I ain't surprised really. To be frank, sir, I'm not surprised, I mean he was jacking off whilst I was getting myself so deep into trouble I could barely climb out alive? He should feel guilty" Tom told his superior, surprising him with his honest thoughts, and even more so that he chose to voice them.

"He knows that Tom, and he is beating himself up real bad over it" Adam assured him.

"Yeah, well that ain't good enough, it's my job to do that" Tom retorted his tone betraying how tired even this short conversation had made him. Adam looked up in surprise.

"Hanson what are you saying?" he asked, his brow rose to match his questioning tone. Hanson closed his eyes briefly.

"I am saying that just cos he feels guilty, it don't give him no right to punish me even more" he replied, and then closed his eyes once more as his exhausted body struggled to keep up with his mind's demands.

End Chapter Twenty One

Hey guys, sorry it is so short, but at least I am back! I promise that the next chapter will be longer and quicker, but please review!


	22. Chapter Twenty Two

Chapter Twenty Two

Hey guys, many thanks for the reviews, I appreciate them and I have kept my word by posting a lot quicker. Yes NetVista I did mean you!

Please keep the reviews coming!

Chapter Twenty Two

Adam left shortly after his conversation with his friend, for he felt as though he was already dismissed. As soon as Tom heard the soft click of the door closing he opened his eyes once more, he was exhausted yet he knew that sleep would elude him at least for the time being. Whilst his body was ready to drift his mind was swirling with a multitude of thoughts and emotions, and he knew that shut down would be impossible. Why had his friend deserted him? He understood that Doug felt guilty, and to be honest he thought that he should do, but it didn't give him the right to not be there when his best friend needed him. He raised his fist as much as his weakened state would allow, and dropped it down onto the mattress in frustration, hot tears streaming down his pale crestfallen face as the depth of his depression finally made itself known. Gradually the bloodshot eyes of Officer Hanson slipped shut, and the young man drifted to sleep, his only company the tears that streaked his face.

Doug rubbed his hands over his exhausted face, he had barely slept since Tom had been taken, and every possible outcome had been whirling through his overstressed mind. It was his fault that Hanson had been snatched, and his fault that he was now so badly beaten that he was still unable to even eat solid food let alone walk around anywhere- that's if he would ever be able to again anyway. He sighed as he shook his weary head, unable to prevent the tears from rising to his overtired eyes as his emotions come to the forefront preventing him from hiding them behind work as he tried to do during the day. He knew that he was well on the way to alienating all of his friends and colleagues, and he also knew that it wasn't because they blamed him for Tom being taken- hell he doubted if they even realised the part that he had played in the entire situation, no they were mad at him because they didn't understand why he wasn't there to help his best friend when he needed him most, maybe that was partly because he himself barely understood it.

Adam was lost, and he didn't mind admitting it. He honestly didn't quite know how to handle the situation that had presented itself to him. He needed to somehow get Doug to the hospital and keep him there long enough to actually talk to Hanson, and manage this without getting Tom stressed and without the injured man realising that his friend had been tricked in order to get him there. He let out a deep breath; nobody had warned him about situations like this when he had been promoted to Captain, it was time to call the troops in.

Judy sighed in content as she sunk into his lovely hot relaxing bath. She sunk down so that the water and the scented bath salts submerged her to the neck. The lit candles in the room providing the only source of light and the softly playing music completing the picture of relaxation. She had not felt so at peace with herself since her colleague's abduction, and even the thought caused her to sober immediately. She sighed and took a sip of her glass of wine, being careful not to crack her face pack, before closing her eyes and resting her head back once more against the bath pillow that lay perfectly in place. She knew that she had to take the time to relax, she was all too aware of the tension that filled the air at Jump Street at the moment, and she also knew that it would be present until Tom was back on his feet and hopefully back at work. The worry and concern, not to mention the anger, plagued everybody's thoughts at the moment; although nobody seemed particularly willing to voice their thoughts for fear that they could come true. She sighed once more, the joy of her pamper session almost deserting her. She reached out of the bath to grab the cucumber slices nearby, and placed one on each eye before sinking chin deep into the warm soapy water, determined to salvage what she could of the evening of peace. Just as she closed her eyes to let the cucumber woke it magic on her tired eyes, the shrill ring of the phone cut through her mind. She reluctantly reached out and grabbed a towel from the rail nearby and wrapped it around herself, and walked quickly to her phone.

"Yeah?" she answered, and was surprised by who was on the other end of the line.

"Hoffs is that you?" Adam fuller asked, sounded unsure.

"Yeah, hi Captain" Judy replied, something in his voice told her that she should pay attention to what he had to say to her, something told her that it was important.

"Judy, are you free to come down to the Chapel?" he asked her, his voice as uncertain as she had ever heard it.

"Sure I am, what's going on?" she asked, her anxiety raised by his tone.

"I have just been to visit Tom, I think it's time that we come up with a plan of action" he told her, and she grinned. At last they were going to start the healing process- beyond his mind.

"Sir, I will be there in 30 minutes" she replied and hurried off to pull on some clothes, as she passed the kitchen she grabbed the sandwich that she had made ready for after her bath, she had a feeling it was going to be a long night.

End Chapter Twenty Two

Please Review!


	23. Chapter Twenty Three

Chapter Twenty Three

Thank you all for your kind reviews throughout this story so far, they really do mean a lot! Please please keep them coming!

A couple of responses to reviews before I go on with the story.

Firstly I write the speech as the individuals would say it, meaning that sometimes the spelling, punctuation and grammar isn't necessarily correct, I am a firm believer in that fan fiction should allow the reader to imagine the characters created on screen to bet the same ones used in this story, which means that attention to detail is important with things like pronunciation. Having said that I would also like to point out that, as you know, I am English so I may sometimes use the classic English spellings or grammar rather than the American versions. I do know that occasionally there are slight spell errors or grammatical incorrectness, but most of the time this is due to typos rather than anything else.

Secondly a reviewer commented that Tom's credit card would have his own name on it, this is another example that actually made me a little mad, as I deliberately try to make sure that I fully research the subject that I am writing about, before writing something in particular into one of my stories. When a police officer goes undercover in any situation he would never ever take anything in with him that would have his own name on it, apart from perhaps his badge in Jump Street's case. Imagine that the youths that he was undercover with asked him to pay for a hire car, he hands over his credit card, it has his real name on it. Bang! Undercover blown!

Anyways thank you to all of you that have stuck with this story and have taken the time to review, I know that when you choose to post stories on a site like this you are bound to get some reviews that you don't agree with, either on the site or through e-mail, but nevertheless I still value each and every opinion that I am given and hope that you will all continue to review.

Chapter Twenty Three

Judy was shocked to enter the Chapel and find that Harry was already there, stood in apparently deep conversation with the Captain. She approached; her stomach churning about this impromptu meeting was likely to be about. She coughed lightly to notify them of her presence, making sure that she was brought up to speed on what she had missed.

"Hey Jude" Harry acknowledged her, and she nodded in response.

"Hi guys, what's going on?" she asked her two colleagues, keen to find out what had made the Captain gather them like this. Of course she had her suspicions, even more so now that she saw that Penhall hadn't been invited.

"Come through to my office" Adam told the two and lead the way back to his private office. The two junior officers sat down, whilst Fuller leant against his filing cabinet in the corner. "Guys, I bet you have some idea of why I have asked ya here, but I'm going to spell it out anyway" he told them, then sat down in his chair before continuing. "Hanson ain't doing so good, he has noticed that Doug hasn't been by to see him, but he doesn't understand why. As far as Tom is concerned Doug has done nothing wrong, and so he has nothing to forgive him for, so there is no problem. I can't get Doug to go and see him at the hospital. Anyway my point is that if we could get the two to actually spend a few minutes together in the same room, then I'll just bet that it will all be sorted out" Fuller told his two friends.

"But how do we get Doug to go an see Tom?" Judy asked, her own desperation evident in her voice.

"That, Hoffs, is the million dollar question" Fuller replied, " The problem is that I don't want Tom to realise that we have had to force Doug into going to see him, that would hurt him even more, but the same token Doug doesn't realise how much hurt he is causing Tom by not visiting him" Adam told them, and they nodded in agreement, but still none of them had any suggestions.

"Can't we maybe tell Doug that he needs to go and get a statement from Tom or something like that?" Judy asked, totally at a loss as to what to suggest.

"That is the kind of thing that we need to try for, but he would know that Tom's statement will already have been taken at least the preliminary one" Ioki cut in, he too was eager to help his friend but totally unsure of how to go about it. Judy sighed, she knew that Harry was right, but she seriously couldn't think of anything else to suggest. "What about if we tell him that there has been a road traffic accident, and someone is hurt. Then we ask him to go to the hospital to await news, but accidentally give him the wrong room number so that he n fact ends up in with Tom?" Harry suggested, Fuller looked up his interest evident on his face.

"Now that Harry, that could work" he responded after a moment, the first genuine smile for days plainly on his face.

Tom winced as once more a bolt of lightening shot through his chest, he was in constant pain anyway, but now that his pain medication was due it was unbearable. Every breath he took brought with it a new lance of agony, and he was beginning to panic. He could feel his heart hammering in his chest as each wave of pain put on stress on it. If it wasn't his chest pulsing in pain, it was the fiery wave of agony in his leg or the constant dizzying pounding of his head. He could barely stand it when the pain medication began to run out. He squeezed his eyes tightly shut as the pain flared, and clenched his fists in an attempt of blocking out the sensation that he honestly didn't know if he could take for much longer.

"Stupid idiots, sending me all the way over here to get a statement like a rookie. Stupid" Penhall muttered darkly to himself as he made his way through the halls of the corridor. In his head he half suspected that his exercise as more than it seemed, but to be honest given his recent behaviour he wasn't really in the position to question anything. He sighed, as he pushed open the hospital door, not bothering to knock before waltzing in. He was stopped in his tracks when he caught sight of a small frame on the bed, hunched over, dark hair covering a thin face. He backtracked quickly out of the room and hollered to a nurse, before he himself stepped back inside.

"Yo pal, a nurse is coming" he tried to console the ill man before him. He moved closer so that he was stood close enough to support the young man.

"Doug?" a soft, pain filled voice called, and only then did Doug Penhall realised that the gaunt broken figure before him was his partner Tom Hanson.

End Chapter Twenty Three


	24. Chapter Twenty Four

Chapter Twenty Four

Thanks for the reviews please keep them coming. I am really sorry for the delay in posting again, but I am now a reformed character and in the process of finishing off all of my current stories! I promise! Please stick with me and keep the reviews coming.

Chapter Twenty Four

"Tommy? Jesus Christ Tom!" Doug whispered, unable to speak any loudly as he felt like all his breath had been knocked out of his lungs. Once he had recovered slightly he moved forward and attempted to support Tom's body as best as he could, without causing the slighter man any further pain. It seemed like an eternity before a nurse finally appeared, and shoved Doug unceremoniously out of the way.

A short time later Doug was allowed back into the room, where he found his partner lay on his back, face pale and eyes shut. He stepped as close to the bed as he could before softly clearing his throat, not wishing to wake his friend if he had managed to get to sleep. Doug was met by confused chocolate orbs looking directly at him, and a soft smile gracing the lips that stood out starkly against the paleness of his face.

"Hey there buddy" Doug greeted. Tom pulled himself slightly more upright, as if preparing himself for a conversation.

"Hi Doug" he responded, his voice quiet but his eyes locking onto the larger man before him. Doug felt a wealth of emotions threaten to choke him, he wished that he had come to see his friend before this, Tom deserved much better than this.

"I am so sorry Tom" Doug told his friend, his sincerity flooding out with those simple words, and all of a sudden the rift didn't seem so large after all.

21JS21JS

"Sir, do you think that maybe we should go down and make sure that everything is okay?" Hoffs asked her captain, Penhall had been gone for two hours without them hearing a word. He must have known their true intent by now, and she was getting very worried about her friends. Fuller looked up at her words, and then once more checked his watch.

"Erm Judy you need to stop worrying. I am sure that Tom and Doug are doing just fine" he told her, attempting to make her feel a bit better about the situation, yet in all honesty he was more than slightly concerned himself. He sighed, he couldn't really hold back any more, he needed to go and make sure that no felonies had been committed at the hospital. "I am going to go and check it out if it puts your mind at rest" he told the female officer before him, and Judy grinned in acknowledgment. She was not in the least bit fooled by his motive, yet since it achieved the same result she was willing to let it slide.

"Thank you Captain" she responded with a smile. Adam suppressed the urge to return the smile, knowing that he Judy didn't believe him for a second, but not willing to argue the point. Without a further word he pulled his coat on, and picked up his car keys and left the office without a backward glance.

21JS21JS

"I am so sorry Tom" Doug began, immediately finding himself unsure where to start. Tom remained silent sensing that his friend had more to say and realising that he was struggling to find the words to vocalise his thoughts. "I should never have been so selfish, I mean what could be more important than my partner's safety, I mean come on man, I am a bad person. I don't know how you can even stand to be in the same room as me" Doug ranted, Tom couldn't help but roll his eyes at the words. "I don't know how I can ever make it up to you, I mean you are in here cos of me" Penhall continued, and finally Tom raised his hand to stop Doug from continuing his monologue. The movement promptly caught the larger man's attention, and ceased him from going on.

"Doug, firstly the reason I nearly died was cos of the that young punk not you. You didn't kidnap me and you certainly didn't beat me. I can accept that you were wrong in what ya did, yeah you should have paid more attention to backing me up and passing on information, but chances are that this would have happened regardless. Doug you made any mistakes you made and that is that, you made it up to me when you found me and saved my life" Tom told Doug, his words holding the sincerity clear in their tone, despite evident weakness in his voice. His eyes locked onto the tear filled eyes of his best friend to convey the truth in what he was saying. Doug sighed, he could accept that Tom had forgiven him, he just knew that he would never forgive himself for what he had done, and he had only made matters worse in his actions after Tom's hospitalisation. Doug saw how much Tom's impassioned speech had worn the still weakened man, and so decided not to argue the point. Instead he simply squeezed his friend's hand and offered a small smile, he was greatly relieved when Tom returned both gestures before closing his eyes and giving in to the pull of exhaustion.

21JS21JS

Adam couldn't help the grin that escaped him as he walked into the small hospital room, he had had a feeling of impending doom as he had made the short journey from Jump Street to the hospital, yet it appeared that all of his fears had been misplaced. He chuckled to himself at the sight before. Tom laid on the bed his head slightly turned to one side, his chest softly rising and falling in sleep. His hand held tightly onto another hand, one that belonged to none other than Doug Penhall, who sat in the hard hospital chair with his head resting on the side of Tom's bed, a smile lightly gracing his relaxed features. Adam silently backed out of the room, pleased to leave the two friends to rest, he had a feeling that they had won one battle, but had only just started their war to recovery of both the mental and physical variety.

End Chapter Twenty Four

Please review!


	25. Chapter Twenty Five

Chapter Twenty Five

Many thanks to you all for reading and reviewing this fic, it really means a lot. Please keep the reviews coming!

Chapter Twenty Five

Doug woke slowly, eyes blinking furiously as his brain caught up with his body and he realised where he was.

"Thank god for that! I never thought you were going to wake up" an amused voice commented from beside him, and Doug grinned in relief to hear his friend sounding like his old self.

"Well someone's snoring kept me awake for half of the night" Doug replied, his face alight with the grin that reached his eyes. Tom snorted in response, he knew that his friend was joking, but he didn't mind it was just good to be having a normal conversation and even better to be having it with his best friend at long last. Sure he knew that they would still have issues to iron out, but they were there and talking, which was a vast improvement on the previous few days. Just as the two friends were about to engage in conversation the nurse came into the room carrying a tray full of hospital food for breakfast. He still did not even remotely feel hungry so the hospital food was even less attraction to him than it would ever be. The previous day had been his first day back onto solid food and he had gagged within the first mouthful. Doug looked at his friend questioningly; Tom had been pale before- now he looked positively green.

"Hello Officer Hanson" the nurse greeted the patient cheerfully, Tom managed to send a quick smile her way, although it in no way lit up his face. "Here's your breakfast, and I brought you some juice this morning" she told him, her tone far too happy for the time of day.

"Can't I just have a coffee?" Tom asked, his tone slightly whinier than he would have liked.

"Now Mr Hanson I explained to you that you cannot have any coffee, your stomach simply would not accept it" she replied, her tone scolding as if talking to a child. With a deep sigh Tom conceded defeat and turned to look at what delights were on offer for today. Doug wrinkled his nose in unison with his partner as they looked at the plate of scrambled egg in front of them- it looked congealed and the least appetising thing that either of the men had ever seen.

"They expect ya to get better eating that?" Doug asked, his disgust clearly evident. Tom nodded in reply trying to keep his nausea at bay. "Ya want me to go and see if I can get ya a bacon muffin or something?" Doug asked his friend, keen to make sure that he ate something as he desperately needed to put on some of the weight that had dropped off of him. Tom shook his head.

"No thanks man, I am not very hungry anyway" Tom replied, reaching for the small glass of orange juice from the tray and sipping it lightly. He leant back against the pillows and sighed, he wanted to go home, he knew it wasn't going to happen but he just wanted his own bed and his own TV. The two friends sat in a comfortable silence each lost in their own thoughts. They were interrupted by a person walking into the small room.

"Mr Hanson?" the male asked quietly.

"Yeah" Tom replied, his tone showing his uncertainty as to who this person was.

"Hi I am Elliot your physiotherapist, are you ready for your first session?" the young man asked chirpily. Tom groaned to himself, there was nothing that he wanted to do less than go through physio with this ridiculously happy sounding man. Elliot appeared to be about the same age as Tom, but at least six inches taller and built like a house with rippling muscles and a golden tan.

"Yeah I guess" he eventually replied, unable to disguise his true feelings in his tone.

"That's dandy" Elliot replied as he pushed an empty wheelchair into the room. Tom sighed, even getting into the chair looked like it was going to take far more energy than he had at the moment. Luckily Doug was there to help him and the bigger man, upon seeing his friend's predicament, reached forward and scooped his partner into his arms effortlessly placing him gently into the awaiting wheelchair. Tom sighed in relief, embarrassed by the way in which he had got there but relieved that that was one hurdle out of the way. Elliot shot Doug an unreadable look which the police officer chose to ignore, then he pushed the wheelchair out of the room.

"If you wait here we won't be too long, go and get yourself a coffee or something" Elliot told Doug over his shoulder, and continued on his way without waiting for a response, leaving a puzzled Doug in his wake.

"Now then Tom, you know that it is going to take a long time to get you back to full strength, not least because of the injury to your leg" Elliot began speaking to Tom when they arrived at the physio wing of the hospital.

"Yeah don't I know it" Tom muttered in reply, already frustrated about how much he was going to miss from work and he hadn't even really started the long hard road to recover yet.

"Don't take it too hard and don't get frustrated, yeah I know easier said than done right? At the moment all we need to do is establish a routine, with a lot of hard work and a little bit of patience you will speed up your recovery by a lot" Elliot told his silent patient. "Okay all we are going to do today are a few upper body exercises to try and build up a little bit of strength to make you a bit more independent. The level of work will obviously increase as time goes on- obviously depending on how your body is coping with the work and responding to your treatment here. When it comes to a stage that you are discharged from the hospital you will have a number of exercises to do at home with assistance and an appointment to come here for checkups on your progress once or twice a week. Are you ready to go?" Elliot asked, hardly pausing for breath during his speech.

"Er, yeah" Tom replied eventually his mind still trying to catch up with exactly what the other man had said. Elliot grinned in acknowledgement before moving the chair over to a set of weights.

"Okay, first we will start on some stretches" the male stated, before leading Tom into a series of exercises.

Some time later Tom was dripping with sweat and felt more exhausted than he ever remembered feeling in his life before.

"Okay I think that that will do us for today" Elliot stated seeing the state of the young man. "We will go through it again tomorrow. Now just to try and sooth out some of your aches, how about a dip in the Jacuzzi?" he asked, and Tom raised his eyebrows in response.

"Er how?" he asked, gesturing to his strapped up leg.

"Ah leave that to me!" Elliot replied, before reaching behind his back and pulling out a sheet of plastic that he promptly wrapped tightly around the strapping on the officer's leg. "Now all set!" he continued before wheeling his patient through to the wet rooms. After a short while, when Tom was dried and back in his bed clothes Elliot wheeled him through to his room, and helped to get him settled back in bed.

"Thank you" Tom told the other man, and he honestly meant it. He was exhausted, but for the first time it was a good kind of exhausted it was the tiredness that came with physical exertion and actually doing something and it had left him tired, but relaxed enough for a peaceful sleep.

End Chapter Twenty Five

Please review!


End file.
